Page 39 - BOXFORD

Other Construction Projects
The Town secured funding at town meeting for engineering services for both the Kelsey
Road culvert replacement and the Middleton Road culvert replacement. In addition, the
superior volunteer expertise of the Sustainability Committee allowed the Board of
Selectmen to contract to construct the Town’s solar array in 2014. This project was
anticipated to result in implementation of a municipal solar credit program which should
have been completed in 2015. However, due to the net metering cap, the town was
forced to wait for the legislature to lift the cap, so that Boxford could capitalize on
anticipated energy savings. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr was instrumental in
ensuring the Boxford’s voice was heard and the resulting legislative action will hopefully
pave the way for completion of the project in 2016.

Other Noteworthy Events
Boxford’s Board of Selectmen announced in September of 2015 that the Town was rated
AAA by Standard and Poor’s for a multi-purpose 10-year, $1.2 million bond issue.
Financial markets responded favorably with three competitive financing bids below
2.0%! In its assessment of Boxford’s creditworthiness, Standard and Poor’s awarded
Boxford its highest rating, emphasizing Boxford’s, “very strong economy”, “strong
management” “very strong budgetary flexibility”, “very strong liquidity”, “very strong
[low] debt service”, and “strong institutional framework.”

This rating was due in part to long standing conservative budgetary policies, maintenance
of large financial reserves, and excellent work by our financial personnel. Clear, accurate
financial planning, administrative focus on shrinking and funding our pension and OPEB
liabilities, and a culture of conservative spending were all contributing factors.

Over the years, the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee have been highly
supportive of proposed initiatives to implement and maintain tight internal spending
controls and in supporting sufficient, qualified, and appropriately compensated
administrative and financial personnel. We are all proud of the triple-A rating, and the
collaborative, mutually respectful relationship we have between the volunteer town
leaders and the professional staff.

Open Space and Recreation
2015 was a year Boxford’s recommitment to its natural resources as it was time for the
update to its Open Space and Recreation Plan. The Boxford Open Space and Recreation
Plan Report is a community-wide inventory of land parcels and residents’ perspectives on
the acquisition, maintenance and utilization of Boxford’s open space areas. The format of
this report follows the model plan report as outlined in the 2008 guidelines entitled Open
Space and Recreation Plan Requirements developed by the Executive Office of Energy
and Environmental Affairs, Division of Conservation Services.

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